University of Virginia Library

Real Light

The first real light shed on the
possible sources of Ky's
extracurricular income came only
in the spring of 1968, when Senator
Ernest Gruening revealed that four
years earlier Ky had been in the
employ of the CIA's "operation
Haylift," a program which flew
South Vietnamese agents "into
North Vietnam for the purpose of
sabotage, such as blowing up
railroads, bridges, etc."

More important, Ky was fired;
Gruening's sources claimed, for
having been caught smuggling
opium from Laos back into Saigon.
Significantly, Ky and his flight
crews were replaced by Nationalists
Chinese Air Force pilots.

Neither the CIA, the Pentagon,
nor the State Department ever
denied Ky worked on Operation
Haylift. Nor did they deny that he
had smuggled opium back into
Saigon.

(To Be Continued)